When Lily was 5, I decided to add to my doberman family, and this time looked for a top notch breeder.  Someone who was breeding for health and solid teperament, and was active in the dog world working and putting titles on their dogs.  That is how I became friends with Ray Carlise of Cara Dobermans in NY.  He sold me a male out of a great litter, and I named him Strider.  Strider was everything you could ask for in a doberman.  He was a great example of the breed both physically and mentally.  He was beautiful and bomb proof and bold as brass.  He was funny, full of himself, and beyond confident.  Friendly with both humans and dogs, he became a certified therpay dog and went to hopspitals and old age homes regularly to visit people who wanted to spend time with a dog.  I lost Strider just shy of his 7th birthday to complications of Lymphoma.  He did six months of chemo and two half body radiations and was cancer free to the end.  Many thanks to the team at the OVC in Guelph.  He was such a good boy.